Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria
Authors: Mike Cummings
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2023)

Editorials14 November 2023Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous UrticariaMike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcMike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcBritish Medical Acupuncture Society, London, United KingdomAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2713 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail I have been reading the acupuncture literature for nearly 30 years as well as using the technique in clinical practice, initially as a medical officer in the British military. Early in my acupuncture career, I witnessed considerable success in treating soft tissue pain (mostly muscle pain) in young men. Never did I consider that acupuncture might be used to treat nonpain conditions. I was even rather dubious that it could treat degenerative joint pain until I saw the headlines stimulated by the first large randomized controlled trial on osteoarthritis of the knee published in this journal (1).Fast-forward a decade ...References1. Berman BM, Lao L, Langenberg P, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141:901-910. [PMID: 15611487] doi:10.7326/0003-4819-141-12-200412210-00006 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Liu Z, Yan S, Wu J, et al. Acupuncture for chronic severe functional constipation: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016;165:761-769. [PMID: 27618593] doi:10.7326/M15-3118 LinkGoogle Scholar3. Tracey KJ. The inflammatory reflex. Nature. 2002;420:853-859. [PMID: 12490958] doi:10.1038/nature01321 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Torres-Rosas R, Yehia G, Peña G, et al. Dopamine mediates vagal modulation of the immune system by electroacupuncture. Nat Med. 2014;20:291-295. [PMID: 24562381] doi:10.1038/nm.3479 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Xian J, Wang L, Zhang C, et al. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture as a complementary therapy for sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupunct Med. 2023;41:3-15. [PMID: 35579024] doi:10.1177/09645284221086288 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Andersson S, Lundeberg T. Acupuncture—from empiricism to science: functional background to acupuncture effects in pain and disease. Med Hypotheses. 1995;45:271-281. [PMID: 8569551] doi:10.1016/0306-9877(95)90117-5 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Zheng H, Xiao XJ, Shi YZ, et al. Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic spontaneous urticaria. A randomized controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 14 November 2023. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.7326/M23-1043 LinkGoogle Scholar8. Kaplan A, Ledford D, Ashby M, et al. Omalizumab in patients with symptomatic chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria despite standard combination therapy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013;132:101-109. [PMID: 23810097] doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2013.05.013 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Chang HW, Lin WD, Shih PJ, et al. Acupuncture decreases risk of hypertension in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria in Taiwan: a nationwide study. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11:1510. [PMID: 37239796] doi:10.3390/healthcare11101510 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Wu MY, Huang MC, Liao HH, et al. Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwan: a nationwide propensity score-matched study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2018;18:341. [PMID: 30577824] doi:10.1186/s12906-018-2384-5 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Mike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcAffiliations: British Medical Acupuncture Society, London, United KingdomDisclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-2713.Corresponding Author: Mike Cummings, MBChB, British Medical Acupuncture Society, 60 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HR, United Kingdom; e-mail, london@thebmas.com.This article was published at Annals.org on 14 November 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEfficacy of Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Hui Zheng , Xian-Jun Xiao , Yun-Zhou Shi , Lei-Xiao Zhang , Wei Cao , Qian-Hua Zheng , Feng Zhong , Ping-Sheng Hao , Ying Huang , Ming-Ling Chen , Wei Zhang , Si-Yuan Zhou , Yan-Jun Wang , Chuan Wang , Li Zhou , Xiao-Qin Chen , Zuo-Qin Yang , Zi-Hao Zou , Ling Zhao , Fan-Rong Liang , and Ying Li Metrics LatestKeywordsAcupuncturePruritusRandomized trialsTraditional Chinese medicineUrticaria ePublished: 14 November 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...